After seeing the Woolworth’s ad where the mum stirfries carrot strips and pretends they are spaghetti, I was inspired to try it as well. I use a veggie peeler and make my “pasta” out of carrot and zucchini, cook it in a frypan for a few minutes with some olive oil, garlic and dried herbs until softened and top with spaghetti sauce and a bit of grated cheese. Irini loves it; Stephen is not fooled!

2. Veggie Kebabs

Both the kids love eating kebabs and satay sticks and I tend to agree, there is something great about eating food off a stick! I now add chunks of veggies in between the meat, and the kids tend to eat them up as well. Little baby squash cut in half always seems to go down well, as does the caspicum and pumpkin, probably because of their natural sweetness that is enhanced by the grilling/BBQing.

3. Sweet Potato Fries

This has been a real hit, lately. Simply cut up a peeled sweet potato into fries, toss in olive oil, some spices and a bit of salt, and cook in a single layer on a preheated baking tray at 200C for about 30 minutes, turning half way through. I now keep a couple of bags of frozen sweet potato fries in the freezer for quick pull-together meals now that they are finally available here in Australia.

4. Sneak them in

Jessica Seinfeld and Missy Lapine have created a whole industry around sneaking veggies into kid’s foods. I don’t neccesarily agree with the concept, since i think it is much better to get kids to appreciate veggies rather than to sneak around. However, I have no problem with sneaking them in to foods in conjunction with feeding them whole veggies. I generally can’t be bothered with the whole pureeing thing, but finely grated veggies can be added to lots of things unnoticed. I usually add zucchini, carrot and red peppers (capsicum) to my spaghetti bolognaise, and carrots to my muffins.